Oh boy, another crime question... Different folks have very different takes on crime and safety in Ecuador. In my opinion Ecuador is very safe. There is theft but relatively little violent crime when compared to most US cities. That said, there are a few very dangerous areas. If you walk around looking like a tourist in a bad neighborhood in NY, or Chicago, or Rome, or almost and big city, sooner or later you'll get robbed. Ecuador is no different. Ecuadorians tend to be non-confrontational, but there is a lot of poverty, so the temptation to steal exists. Culturally, most of Latin America obsesses over crime and safety and over reacts to the risk of crime, while totally ignoring the real dangers, such as bad driving on dangerous roads.